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The Square Root of Light

Over the last year and a half, I have
been writing a feature called ‘Artist Alley’ for a few of the Villager
magazines.I love meeting new artists
and learning how each of us have unique talents and different ways of
creating.One comment that kept coming
up during the interviews is the fact that many artists get involved in the
Westland Gallery’s annual ‘Square Foot’ exhibition.Because I’ve heard of this gathering on many
occasions, I became interested to learn more and to see if I could get
involved.After a quick email inquiry, I
had all the information that I needed.Now, I just needed to create a peace of art that would be 12” x 12” – a
square foot!!!

I prepped 3 canvases – although only 1
got completed – and it was during this time when I sent my imagination on a
fishing trip.I always have a lot of
ideas, so it was rather difficult to pin down just one.Finally, I had made a decision.

I decided to ‘re-create’ an image that I
had made in 2001 while living in Nelson, British Columbia (while working on my
Canada: Glorious To Be art project).This was created using needlepoint techniques that I was teaching myself
and I always thought that the title “The Square Root of Light” was a lot of
fun…. although in this art I had used the mathematical symbol for ‘square root’
instead of words.

I felt a strong urge to take another look
at the concepts I was working on in the needlepoint art, for the Westland Gallery’s
exhibition.It was the title of the art
and the fact that I was entering a ‘Square Foot’ exhibition that made me feel
that people would enjoy my connection of title to the concept of the
exhibition.Now, it was time to get
busy…

The Square Root of Light

12” x 12”

Paper Collage on Canvas

London, Ontario

June 2017

Jim Kogelheide

I wanted my art peace to be unique,
created in a style that I felt would not be used by many other artists.In fact – when I saw all the other 550
artworks that were included in the show, I found that mine was the only art
that was made using little bits of advertisements from magazines.

When creating the sun, I often times
start with yellows in the middle, changing to oranges and then reds as we get
further from the heart of the sun.This
is exactly what I did with this art.I
also incorporated the sky into the image, creating a mutual relationship
between the sun and our sky.In the
centre of the sun, I used very light blue magazine bits and they get
progressively bluer and darker as the sky follows alongside the sun’s pathway…
or route… which just happens to be square, in this case.

I added a few clouds for interest and
three layers of foreground.In the
landscape, I used a very basic concept for creating ‘depth of field’…The foreground has the most detail and the
most colour.The next layer of landscape
sees the details fading and the amount of colours decreasing in number.The furthest away layer of the landscape has
very little detail and only a few faded colours.By following these concepts, anyone can
create the illusion of distance.

It took me almost two months to complete
this art, as I can only find a few hours – here and there – throughout my week,
to work on my art.It seems that the
older I get, the busier I get!!

I received my first
‘non-friends-and-family’ compliment on this artwork, when I was taking it to
the Westland Gallery, to submit it.I
handed it to the curator and owner of the gallery and after a one second look,
her eyes widened and she brought the art closer to take a deeper look.Several seconds passed by and then she took
off her glasses and peered at me, over the top of the artwork.When she spoke, I felt showered in praise and
this made me feel fantastic!

A few weeks later, the exhibition began…

It was the Opening Reception and as fate
would have it, I was able to attend with my wife, Joanne and our son,
Devon.I knew that there would be no
street parking near the gallery and so, we parked several blocks away and
walked through The Wortley Village.

Several years ago, Joanne and I lived in
this area, so we thought that a nice walk through our old stomping grounds
would be a nice treat.About a block
away from where we parked out car, we could hear music playing.As we got closer, we saw a nice crowd of
people, sitting on lawn chairs outside a church garden, listening to a
Blue-Grass band.I love the energy in
this music, so we stopped to listen.I
picked Devon up and held him in my arms and the two of us danced a little gig
until the song ended.

We continued our journey, around the
corner and down the street – enjoying seeing people enjoying their ice-creams,
or sitting on a restaurant patio – and in the distance, we could see a large
crowd of people milling about on the sidewalk.Apparently, the Opening Reception was such a success that the crowd was
pouring out onto the street!

Once inside the gallery, we could see
why.It was wall to wall people and all
the walls were lined with art!What a
site!

3rd row from the bottom & 4 rows from the left is my art

I asked Joanne, “My goodness, I wonder
how long it will take us to find my artwork?” and before I could finish
speaking, I noticed it on the wall, just a few feet away.I also noticed that the label had a small red
dot on it.I had sold my art!!!!!

I wanted to see if other people were
enjoying my art, so while Devon took mommy around by the hand – looking at
other art – I stayed close to mine to spy on it.I saw one lady get really close to it and
then she got excited, turned to her husband and called him closer. They both
pointed at different parts of my art, exchange comments and smiles.This made me feet great!I stuck around for just a minute or so and
then it was time for me to take a look at all the other talent that was filling
the room.I was not disappointed at all!All the artworks were wonderful.

I really enjoyed the landscapes that depicted
Northern Ontario, with all the rocks, water and White Pine trees.

Soon, I had found Devon and Joanne again,
and Devon was very keen to show me what artworks he liked.We go to galleries, every so often, and Devon
is always eager to tell me about all the paintings that he likes.

Soon, we were enjoying a close look at a
forest floor, filled with leaves, mushroom and snails.

Then we talked about how clever it was
for an artist to be able to show how rocks look while being under the water.

Devon and I talked about how some artists
don’t like to make paintings look real – they paint abstract-like images that
give people a sense of the energy found in a Canadian goose…

… or a beautiful swan flying through the
night sky.

There were many artworks created using
several types of mediums, like this painting with added fabric, and needlework.

Some artworks were created using
techniques that I could only guess about.But this mystery only makes the art more appealing.

Some creations were made using very
simple forms, shapes and colours.I find
that art creations like this appeal to me because they express so much, using
so little.

There was one painting that also
incorporated paper collage that really grabbed my attention.I think it’s because this artist had used
both of my favourite techniques in one image.I thought that I could be looking at something made by another ‘Mr. Jim’
and this made me smile.

Some artworks make me stare at them for a
while.I’m just amazed how images can
come to life so magically.

And sometimes, it’s the paintings with
the least amount of detail, colour and form that grab my attention.I find that images like this take my
imagination on a journey so that it can discover all that this painting has to
offer.

This dog was created using fun letters
that spelled out words.Very
colourful!Very creative!

I’ve been wanting to paint a picture of
bee, for many years now.Until that time
happens, I’ll be content with enjoying this painting.

Even though, it’s summer, I found my self
staring at this painting for quite a while.The cool colours helped me to forget how hot it was inside the gallery
and the image itself took me on a journey to my childhood.I grew up in a very rural location and this
reminded me of so many of the walks that I took through farm fields and
pastures when I was a youth.The ice
slicked roads were real enough for me it imagine being on them smelling the
frosted winter air.

When I began this story, I told how I got
involved with this art show because many of the artists who I have interviewed
were always speaking about the Westland Gallery’s ‘Square Foot’
exhibition.So, it should come as no
surprise to learn that I saw many new and exciting artworks by several of these
artists.

To finish this story, I am going to share
with you the artworks that they created for this exhibition, plus a link to the
story I wrote about them as it appears in the Villager Magazines.These stories are the un-edited versions
(since the printed stories sometimes get edited due to lack of space) and these
stories share more artworks than what appear in the magazines.

So, please, click on the links below and
enjoy even more artwork and more stories…